Unreviewed High Republic Clone Marine Regiment

[Dacian Quee-Paddox]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To provide the High Republic with a starship marine unit
• Image Credit: Image generated through ChatGPT
• Role: Marines
• Permissions: N/A
• Links: The High Republic

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Unit Name: High Republic Clone Marine Regiment
• Affiliation: The High Republic (sponsored by Lucerne Labs, Lucerne Personal Defense, and Lucerne Biological Systems - Unit bought from company, and decided to sponsor them afterwards)
• Classification: Starship Marine Line Regiment
• Description: Clone Marine Regiments are a standardized unit of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a common sight on High Republic starships and space stations. One of the first of the standardized clone army unites, Clone Marines are known for their lightning quick reaction times and a dogged inflexibility that is both inspiring and frustrating for friends and foes alike. Even while still in the cloning cylinders, Clone Marines are flash imprinted in zero-G tactics, close quarters combat skills, and starship operations functions. Unsurprisingly then, these clones marines excel at the close quarters combat that characterizes boarding actions, and with rocket pack equipped battle armor, the clone marines can bring that close quarters combat to enemy vessels if need be to either sabotage or seize them. While impressive warriors onboard spacegoing vessels, Clone Marines have limited utility outside of these environments due to a lack of training, physical conditioning, and short-ranged weaponry. But those who have seen them in action in their chosen element have few doubts about their effectiveness in keeping the High Republic's shipping secure.

COMBAT INFORMATION:

• Unit Size: Large
• Unit Availability: Common
• Unit Experience: Trained
• Equipment:
• All troops: 1 set of Llwelkyn-series Battle Armor with Mailoc Photonic Rocket Pack, 1 LPD-73 Stormfist Scatter Pistol, 1 LPD-34 Cracken Combat Knife
• Typical Clone Marine Squad layout with equipment
  • Command Element
    • 1 Sergeant: 1 LPD-45 Firespray Shotgun with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 1 Akk Dog Portable Shield Generator, Implanted Cyberjack, tubes of Quickflash Burning Gel
    • 1 Heavy Gunner: 1 LPD-81 Flamestrike Personal Blast Cannon with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 1 LPD-28 Silver Talon series Vibroblade
  • Fire Team Aurek
    • 2 Riflemen: 1 LPD-14 Firebolt Variable Charge Blaster Rifle with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 2 7-PrG Proton Grenades, 3 LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades each
    • 1 Grenadier: 1 LPD-14 Firebolt Variable Charge Blaster Rifle with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight and underbarrel LPD-53 Crasher Underbarrel Grenade Launcher (LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades, LPD-56 Firewrecker Anti-Armor Grenades, LPD-48 Fire Rain Incendiary Grenades, LPD-54 Neutroburst Radiation Grenades, LPD-39 Coldblast CryoBan Grenades)
    • 1 Close Quarters Combat Specialist: 1 LPD-45 Firespray Shotgun with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 1 Bodhar-series Blast Shield with pressor field projector, 3 LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades
  • Fire Team Besh
    • 2 Riflemen: 1 LPD-14 Firebolt Variable Charge Blaster Rifle with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 2 7-PrG Proton Grenades, 3 LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades each
    • 1 Grenadier: 1 LPD-14 Firebolt Variable Charge Blaster Rifle with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight and underbarrel LPD-53 Crasher Underbarrel Grenade Launcher (LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades, LPD-56 Firewrecker Anti-Armor Grenades, LPD-48 Fire Rain Incendiary Grenades, LPD-54 Neutroburst Radiation Grenades, LPD-39 Coldblast CryoBan Grenades)
    • 1 Close Quarters Combat Specialist: 1 LPD-45 Firespray Shotgun with TruSight-series Multi-Optic Sight, 1 Bodhar-series Blast Shield with pressor field projector, 3 LPD-24 Fireblast Dual Purpose Grenades
• Combat Function: Clone marines are bred and trained to be particularly aggressive and quick acting, as space battles are often quick and decisive affairs that last mere minutes, especially compared to ground battles which may last weeks. Alternative plans are thus not debated or considered, and Clone Marine leaders are known for being inflexible because of the need for quick decisive action. As Clone Marine unit actions are largely regulated by the command actions of the vessels that carry them, high-ranking Clone Marine officers largely defer operational plans to the starship's bridge crews. However, once a boarding action take place, Clone Marine leaders are known for quickly carrying out well-rehearsed drills and tactics, even if not all tactically relevant information is known. When acting on the defensive, Clone Marines usually are interested in securing key intersections and starship sections. To that end, they rapidly concentrate forces at those areas, even if that means leaving some sections of the vessel completely undefended. Such actions then very turn quickly into the classic "get there the fastest with the mostest" tactics, where speed of action and overwhelming firepower can quickly change the tide of a battle. If an opportunity presents itself, Clone Marines will turn these defensive actions into counteroffensives, with clone marines following any surviving attackers back onto the enemy's ships. When on the offensive, Clone Marines turn their attention to systematically disabling and damaging subsystems on enemy ships over outright capturing them unless given explicit orders otherwise. To that end, proton grenades are used as demolition charges against key power conduits, power generators, and any combustibles they may find onboard such as fuel or warheads. Such attacks can cripple an enemy warship even if the vessel itself cannot be captured. At the squad level. Clone Marines use very quick, reactive shooting and well versed battle drills to quickly overwhelm opponents with converging attacks. Typically, the close quarters specialists carrying blast shields lead the assault, with the shields protecting the entire group while the other marines shoot over the shields at their opponents. Usually the variable charge blaster rifles are sufficient enough to mow down opponents, though if tougher and better protected enemies show up at close ranges, shotguns and scatter pistols can make quick work of most humanoid enemies. When facing clusters of enemies or particularly well defended foes, the squad turns to grenade launchers and personal blast cannon to quickly deliver decisive heavy firepower. The command element also doubles as a breaching team for the two fire teams, with the sergeant using burning gel to melt through even the thickest blast doors with enough time, or the heavy gunner using his vibroblade to quickly cut through thinner doors and bulkheads. Clone Marine squads are quick to take advantage of these breaching abilities to not just simply force entry into contested spaces. They also use these abilities to bypass thick concentrations of enemy forces by making new paths forward through the starship or to expose the innards of a starship to vacuum to suck out opponents and loose equipment, wrecking chaos and confusion as they advance through the enemy vessel.
• Force Abilities (Force User Units Only): N/A

Strengths:

• Close Quarters Fighters: Clone Marines are flash imprinted with close quarters reactive, defensive shooting skills with all of their weapons. An intense focus is made on cutting down reaction time in both shooting and moving to an absolute minimum, causing Clone Marines to develop a reputation for lightning fast reflexes and shoot first ask questions later mentality. Even if the later reputation is true among some true clone marine units, few doubt that the speed of action combined with overwhelming, coordinated firepower of the group is effective in the close confines of starships and space stations.
• Auxiliary Sailors: Clone Marines are flash imprinted with the basics of operating many starship subsystems such as starship weapon, engine, shield, power, communications, and sensor systems. Once a clone marine is assigned to a vessel, they spend time learning how to operate that vessel's particular systems and working with its crew. Clones with the rank of sergeant and above have been given cybernetic implants that allow them to more efficiently interact with the technologies found on starships, improving the sailing abilities of both the ship and the crew even more. These skills allows High Republic vessels to have a steady backup supply of crewmen to replace casualties taken during battles or to operate as prize crews for derelicts or captured enemy ships.
• Zero-G Tactics: Clone Marines spend extensive time practicing combat in zero gravity, both inside and outside of starships. These soldiers can effortlessly push off and maneuver within starships without gravity in ways that few opponents can expect. When in actual outer space, Clone Marines can use their rocket packs to quickly transverse the void, allowing them to quickly board enemy and friendly vessels alike without the need for dedicated shuttles or transport craft.

Weaknesses:

• Low Muscle Mass: Spending so much time in space in zero gravity environments, clone marine lose muscle mass and typically aren't as strong as soldiers who spend more time ground side, gravity helps build muscles and bone mass.
• Predictable: Clone Marines use standardized flash imprinting and follow set routines and tactical drills, which can result in them becoming predictable to experience opponents.
• Over Specialized: Clone Marines are solely educated and trained for fighting in outer space. This specialized training combined with short range weapons often mean that clone marines are not very effective on groundside missions

HISTORICAL INFORMATION
As the High Republic introduced clone troopers to form its Grand Army of the Republic, one of the first groups to receive the batches of these clones were the Defense Fleet's marines, who defend High Republic warships and act as boarding parties against enemy vessels and derelicts. These clones are the first generation soldiers of the clone trooper process, and as such, have had relatively simplistic doctrine and training flash imprinted in them. Theoretically, the clone marines should be able to offset this through sheer speed and violence of action. While this has worked well initial engagements, some more wary opponents have begun to learn from these experiences and begun to predict the clone's actions. This in turn has led individual clone marine units to begin their own internal training programs, which will eventually vary tactics and procedures among the clone marines. However, biological tendencies bred into the clones has led most of their actions to be very aggressive, and thus still somewhat predictable in philosophy. Regardless of these tendencies, the Clone Marines have proven to be very effective, and along with their ability to help crew starships, have made them popular among the sailors of the Republic's fleet.